Talking Simpsons - Treehouse of Horror II With Will Menaker

Will is always great

Hampus Bystrom

I think the dead mouse is because Bart has been giving poisoned apples to Edna, and she is too smart to eat them but the mouse isn't

16_oz_mouse

This was the first Treehouse I had ever seen as a kid and I did not understand they were not cannon. I spent years confused as to why the story with Burns + Homer combined was never continued. I thought there must be an episode I had never seen because of the "Next Time On The Simpsons", assuming I'd just yet to find it. As someone who came to the Simpsons mostly through syndication, I assumed this was a final episode I had never seen past. One day I hope they can tell the second part of this and put my 12 year olds mind to rest.

Ryan Oliver

Every time I've watched that third segment, I was reminded of the 1958 Hammer film "The Revenge of Frankenstein." When Burns tells Smithers he's going to die & he tells him what to do, it's EXACTLY the end of the film where Dr Frankenstein played by Peter Cushing is dying & tells his assistant, "You know what to do." The flunky then puts the doctor's brain into a new body (that coincidentally looks exactly like his old body!). Considering this is kinda a Frankenstein parody, it cannot be a coincidence that the endings are similar. And I'm sure many in the writers' room were Hammer fans! It's possible.

James Babbo

will was hilarious, have him back sometime!

mavrick

Yeah. There was a time in the 90s when all that weird candy that kids didn't actually like was only available at places like discount/dollar stores and rural general/convenience stores. Then the retro candy stores brought it back in vogue.

Dave Dalrymple

I'm sure that's it. All the Midwestern Liquor Store candies of yore—those marshmallow circus peanuts that give me a headache, those wax soda bottles that you suck syrup out of, all of it, back in full-force at It's Sugar, Lolli and Pops and such, but probably they never really went away. If I ever find a diet strawberry sunkist in a glass bottle, though (my favorite childhood liqour store pay-day treat along with a Batman comic . . .) that will be a true day to celebrate.

Kat Heagberg

I was born on November 1st 1991. So I’m as old as this episode

Eyal Shachar

They in dollar shop here in USA the ones I go to anyway they call candy something it all scooby doo or dc comic maybe marvel

Cossover

Great episode! I never really thought about it, but it's not really a surprise that Skinner would sing barbershop music, considering his B-Sharps history. ^_^

To Boldy Joe... Moore

Will is definitely one of my favorite guests. That was an awesome episode!

Jessica S

2 things that have stuck with me since watching this episode as a kid: 1. Bart chomping and crushing away at the candy necklace Lisa gave him, then “flossing” the string through his teeth as he’s handing it back to her. I’ve always had the same cringe face as Lisa in that scene. It’s still very funny, though! 2. When Mr. Burns sews Homer’s top-half of his head back on, he finishes his stitching by snipping the bloody thread off with his teeth! Mr. Burns is so old fashioned in his ways, even his sewing skills are a little antiquated. I never get tired of that scene cause it’s so gross and ridiculous and quintessentially “The Simpsons”! Thank you for another great episode, I can’t wait to hear more Talking about the all the other Treehouse of Horrors & Halloween specials🎃

I don't think they ever went away completely, just disappeared from places like convenience stores and grocery stores. They likely just exist as a nostalgia product because there isn't much reason to buy them otherwise since they were pretty low tier candy. Though I'm guessing if I read the reviews on Amazon for them there would be at least a few buying them to "own the libs" or some such nonsense.

Joe Hodgson

🎶 All I want to do is Talk Simpsons 🎶

Bradford A Barker

I hadn't seen candy cigarettes in years—my aunt used to get them for me when I'd accompany her to the liquor store on pay day as a toddler in Michigan in the 90s, but I figured they'd gone the way of Joe Camel. But now I always see them at boutique candy store chains like "It's Sugar" right alongside the spicy dried crickets, fruit-stripe gum and SNL-themed toilet paper at the checkout. I don't know if they had a comeback or if I just didn't frequent any places that sold them for several decades?

Kat Heagberg

Just recently I realized the impact that this episode had on my personal theology as a child, in particular the Monkey's Paw segment. After watching it, I got the idea that God (and also Santa) were surely trying to catch me in a Monkey's-Paw-like scenario with my prayers (and gift lists), so I would be VERY specific and go back and revise a lot. Like if someone was sick I specified that I wanted them to "ACTUALLY GET BETTER and not just die so they would stop being sick," or I would tell Santa that I wanted "the ACTUAL BARBIE DOLL and not just a picture of it." I also specifically prayed that the turkey wouldn't be dry every time I had turkey, because I sensed that was important, even though I don't think I actually minded dry turkey. Eventually, I just stopped believing in supernatural things, which is probably for the best, because that was exhausting. I'm not sure WHY I was so convinced that the Simpsons writers (or the OG Monkey's Paw author) knew exactly how the supernatural operates, as opposed to Captain What's-His-Name at church who I never paid attention to, but I definitely did and took it very seriously.

Kat Heagberg

New England resident here, and yes, I can confirm that Halloween 91 was quite a rainy one. It was the first of many rainy Halloweens for me as our fall tends to be rather wet. 1991 has the distinction of being the only Halloween in which we resorted to automobile travel. My neighbor had an old station wagon so all of us neighborhood kids piled into the back of that and she and my mom drove us over to some nearby condos that had overhangs above their front doors so it was some-what dry. We went door-to-door in each cluster of units, piled back into the station wagon, and then drove to the next set. We still got pretty wet, by not as drenched as we would have just walking around our neighborhood. I did want to get home for this episode, and because of its placement on Halloween, it's probably the most memorable episode of Treehouse of Horror for me. I did miss the first couple of minutes, but was home to see all 3 segments. I was also completely fooled by the ending and fully expected the story to continue next week. Candy necklaces are a thing that still exist, despite being pretty terrible candy. I can't recall seeing any in my kids' Halloween hauls, but they definitely show up at birthday parties. There are also bracelet varieties. Candy cigarettes still exist too, as do bubble gum cigars. I had to get my kids passports last year and was slightly taken aback when the postal employee taking care of us offered my kids a bubble gum cigar. It just struck me as such an oddly specific thing to decide to have on-hand to gift to kids who are getting their first passport.

Joe Hodgson